Perfect over--the-shoulder wallet

My purse of choice is a small wallet that hangs over my shoulder and holds a bit of cash, a few plastic cards and the essential debit card and driver's license. I have one in rugged outdoor-gear fabric I picked up years ago from REI but it's well worn and my other essential, the smartphone,  just won't fit inside the pocket.

There are many small purse and pouch patterns to consider, but I picked up this Little Wallet pattern by Valerie Wells awhile ago and gave it a run last week.









For my first spin through the pattern, I used cotton and stayed within the lines following the simple instructions closely.  The result was a really cute small wallet with three small stacked rows of inner pockets.

Nothing that would fit an iPhone or over-the-shoulder strap though.  The next adaptation enlarged 125%, with strap, and using felted wool was already under development by the time the first pearl snap was in place.

And here it is…5 inches at the opening and 6 inches at the bottom, swingy across the body shoulder strap, and big enough even for the iPhone 6!  Now this is a 50th birthday gift for a good friend.  But the next one's mine!

 I used an over dyed felted blue wool with a check for the exterior and a repurposed grey wool for the bottom pocket.  I chose a recently purchased cotton print bought on impulse for the lining, and grey cotton solid inner pockets to keep the bulk at the seams manageable, and to ensure I could insert the snap pieces through all the layers.

#5 pearl cotton embroider embellishment was irresistible for the finish.  But I can see future efforts using cutwork and wool appliqué.